Cox Holds First COVID Briefing As Governor; 3,793 Utahns Test Positive, 22 More Die

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Health on Friday announced 3,793 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 22 more Utahns have died as a result of the virus.

The report comes as Gov. Spencer Cox holds his first briefing on the coronavirus as Utah’s governor. He announced he will be issuing an executive order aimed at streamlining the vaccination process.

“It is unacceptable to have vaccines sitting on shelves,” he said.

Cox announced that the local health departments will be handling vaccine distribution moving forward, saying those departments have the ability to vaccinate a minimum of 50,000 people per week.

The governor said that Utah’s in-person educators and staff will be eligible to receive the vaccine beginning Jan. 11. He said schools should prioritize teachers by risk level.

Vaccines are expected to be available for Utahns ages 70 and older beginning Jan. 18.

Those eligible who wish to get vaccinated can contact their local health departments at UALHD.org or at coronavirus.utah.gov.

He added that anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days should not get vaccinated.

Testing

UDOH reported a total of 1,803,225 Utahns have been tested so far, which is an increase of 13,036 people tested from yesterday.

Of those, a total of 301,110 have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s an increase of 3,793 cases from Thursday’s report.

The rolling 7-day average for positive tests is 3,051 per day, and the rolling 7-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests is 32.7%.

Hospitalizations

Currently, 543 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, and 196 of those people are in intensive care units. Another 67 people are hospitalized with suspected cases of COVID-19.

Utah’s ICU beds are now 89.6% full, which is above the state’s threshold of 85% for quality ICU care.

The ICU beds in the state’s referral centers are 92.2% full.

Referral Centers are the 16 hospitals in Utah with the capability to provide the best care for patients with COVID-19. Because most patients are transferred to these facilities, their utilization is the best reflection of the true hospital capacity in Utah when looking at ICU beds.

Deaths

Authorities announced 22 more Utahns have lost their lives as a direct result of COVID-19.

Six of those 22 people died prior to Dec. 21.

“Because the Office of the Medical Examiner takes great care to ensure cases reported as COVID deaths are actually due to COVID; through medical records review and sometimes an autopsy, there can be a delay in final determinations,” according to UDOH.

To date, 1,381 of the state’s residents have been killed by the virus.

The following individuals’ deaths were reported Friday:

1. Male, between 65-84, Washington County resident, hospitalized at time of death
2. Female, between 65-84, Davis County resident, hospitalized at time of death
3. Male, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, not hospitalized at time of death 
4. Female, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
5. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
6. Male, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
7. Male, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
8. Male, between 45-64, Washington County resident, hospitalized at time of death
9. Male, older than 85, Davis County resident, long-term care facility resident
10. Male, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
11. Male, between 45-64, Weber County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
12. Male, between 65-84, Utah County resident, long-term care facility resident
13. Female, between 45-64, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
14. Male, between 25-44, Davis County resident, hospitalized at time of death
15. Female, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
16. Male, between 65-84, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
17. Female, between 65-84, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
18. Male, between 45-64, Davis County resident, hospitalized at time of death
19. Male, older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
20. Female, between 25-44, San Juan County resident, not hospitalized at time of death
21. Female, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
22. Female, between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death

Vaccinations

There have been 161,825 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine shipped to Utah. So far, 75,115 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, and 2,113 have received both doses.

For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.